Survivor Season 35 Theme and Title Revealed

Inside Survivor reveals the new title and theme for Season 35 of Survivor.

Photo: CJ Isherwood via Compfight cc

Inside Survivor can reveal that the title and theme for Survivor Season 35 will be Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Nope, this isn’t a very late April Fool’s joke. The thirty-fifth season recently wrapped up filming in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands and will feature 18 brand new castaways divided into three tribes.

Those of you subscribed to the Inside Survivor newsletter will be aware that casting was looking for contestants with specific occupations. During last year’s casting process, casting associates had put out notices requesting applications from those currently working as teachers, firefighters, and yoga instructors. It led to speculation that CBS was preparing to repeat the Worlds Apart theme, previously used in season thirty when castaways were divided into tribes of White Collar, Blue Collar, and No Collar.

The new theme – Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers (get used to saying that) – is essentially a variation on the Worlds Apart concept. While not as specific as the previous iteration, the tribe designations are likely to be decided based primarily on occupation. One would expect the Heroes tribe to include public service jobs such as firefighters, police officers, and teachers. The Healers, on the other hand, are more likely to be therapists, psychologists, and yoga instructors (spiritual healing). Whereas the Hustlers are probably salespeople and business executives.

UPDATE 05/25/17: During the preview at the Game Changers reunion, Jeff Probst said the tribes are decided based on how others perceive them in their every day lives.

Season 35 will also mark the second time we’ve seen a “Heroes” tribe. The original Heroes tribe were part of the show’s epic all-star season, Heroes vs. Villains, and included famous Survivor faces such as Cirie Fields, Rupert Boneham, and Colby Donaldson.

S35 logo final
Photo: CBS.

What do you think about the new theme? A step too far? Do we call it Survivor: HHH for short? Are you a hero, a healer or a hustler? Leave your comments below.

Click here for the rumored Season 35 cast.

Header Photo: CJ Isherwood via Compfight cc


Written by

Martin Holmes

Martin is a freelance writer from England. He’s represented by Berlin Associates for comedy writing and writes about TV and entertainment, currently for TV Insider and Vulture, previously Digital Spy, ET Canada, and Yahoo. A finalist for the Shortlist Sitcom Search in 2012 for “Siblings,” Martin received his BA in English with Creative Writing from The University of Hull. Martin is the owner and editor-in-chief of Insider Survivor.


40 responses to “Survivor Season 35 Theme and Title Revealed”

  1. I just hope that they chose to add some location in front of the theme. Like maybe Mamanuca Islands should be this next season… Just a thought. Because it’s gonna be real impossible for me to spit those syllables out how they currently are.

  2. I just can’t at this title. At this point they should just call it Survivor: Whatever Jeff Comes Up With

    • That’s what you’re getting in season 35. They only come up with the title/theme after the casting is finished with the exception of a few seasons. Also, heroes, hustlers and healers are plentiful in many of the Survivor seasons, so this is “normal people” for survivor.

  3. #StopCrammingArbitraryThemesDownOurThroats

    Overall this isn’t a bad concept, but I do worry that the dynamic could seem kinda like “heroes vs villains” but with half as many villains as heroes. And the hustlers would just kinda get teamed up against

  4. Personally, I’m all for Survivor: Back to Basics but we all know the likelihood of that happening is equal to how likely I am to date Kate Upton: Diddly-squat.

  5. I’m happy that it is 18 NEW people as opposed to asking back former contestants which is getting old fast especially when you have been on for your third or fourth time: Varner,Sandra,Ciera,Ozzy,Malcolm,JT,Andrea

  6. It doesn’t matter how ridiculousle the theme is, in the end of the day the thing that will make or brake the season is casting – and we all need a good, passionate cast after this season where it seemed like someone was forcing them to play.

  7. As I see it, the theme is mainly about humoring Probst and his vision of Survivor. He does a good job in most respects so I’m willing to accept his cheese-ball conceits. In reality the theme is probably the least important aspect of the show and makes me cringe every time it is alluded to.

  8. I’m always for newbies, I wish they would just give up on returnees. Especially after this season which has been extremely boring. I hope they have cast some really great people and not too many models and life coaches (hustlers) although I see it is a young cast again. After this season they really owe us a fun cast..

  9. so two tribes are made out to be good people and one tribe of aholes?? is that FAIR?? Remember WAY back in the day where they went to a NEW location?? and it was so cool???? …. all i can say is the cast better be great.

  10. I’m with everyone else. What’s wrong with just good old Survivor, with no stupid themes?

  11. Guys! Haven’t we learnt that themes are merely marketing ploys, and that they don’t affect the quality of the season? Just last year, everyone scuffed at the Millennials vs. Gen X theme, but then we saw what an amazing season that turned out to be. Don’t take the themes too seriously, as we know that after four eliminations, there’ll be a tribe shuffle. Let’s just look forward to the obvious: NEW players!

  12. The season title means nothing; it’s the content that matters, and it has been pretty good the past few years.

  13. I love themes, and I disagree that we should stop having them, but this is kind of ridiculous. Enterprisers vs. Entertainers vs. Enforcers vs. Energizers were what I wanted, but this isn’t much different, so I’m fine either way.

  14. The best season was the Out Back. They were truly trying to Survive. Now, I think that the contestents look like they are gaining weight and not really working on their shelters and finding food. And we need some real villianous types..i.e., Russell Hann and that guy who told everyone his Grandma died.

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